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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Luscious Leftovers - Part II

Venerating
Vegetables - Take 1

Leftover Vegetable Soup

Leftover
vegetables are a tricky thing.

Why?

Because
most people don't like fresh ones, let alone the leftovers. It's only in recent
years with the rise in popularity of specialty diets like vegetarianism and
veganism that the idea of veggies as something more than a side dish has
arisen. Veggies have now gone beyond steaming and slathering with butter or
serving raw with high fat sour cream and mayonnaise based dips. Everyone and
their cousin is now consuming copious amounts of kale, and discovering ethnic
cuisines like Indian that worship veggies as much as Americans love their
steak.

It
is unfortunate that despite all this, many still eat too few vegetables, and
animal based proteins like poultry, beef, and pork remain the main event at
meals. I'm no vegetarian, but I'd like to change all that. And I don't mean
through the use of so called "meat alternatives" - stuff that's
created from veggies but usually has
the taste and texture of rubber or styrofoam. I mean through the creative use
of real vegetables.

Because
the options for veggies - even leftover ones - are so varied, I've decided to
split this installment of Luscious Leftovers into three.

All
that said: let's get cooking!

Soup

Difficulty
Level: Easy

Total
Prep and Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Serves
at least 4

Soup
is a GREAT way of using leftover veggies because everything pretty much looks
the same - fresh, frozen, or a couple of days old - when simmered in liquid and
then mashed or pureed beyond recognition.

Here's
How You Do It

Ingredients

1 Carton or 4 Cups of
Chicken or Vegetable Broth - Beef
broth, while delicious, is too strong in flavor for this soup.

At least 3 Cups of Fresh or
Leftover Vegetables - Coarsely Chopped - Have some leftover salad? Veggies from a crudités platter?
Lettuce and Tomato you'd cut up for burgers but didn't end up using? A sweet
potato or squash you bought but have no idea what to do with? Toss them in the
pot. The soup above was made with some leftover celery, a couple of parsnips, a
bunch of leftover carrots I meant to eat as a snack but didn't, and a slightly
wrinkled but perfectly edible red bell pepper. If you have squash or sweet
potato, be sure to peel them, as their skins are inedible.

1 or 2 Potatoes - Peeled
and Chopped - Optional - Have
some leftover undressed baked or boiled potatoes? Lose the skin and toss 'em
in. While not necessary, they will thicken the soup.

1 Medium Onion - finely
chopped

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper - to taste

Sour Cream or Yogurt -
Optional - This is a
nice touch if you're serving it to guests, as it adds richness and looks fancy.

Fresh Parsley, Dill, Chives - Washed and Finely Chopped - Optional - OR -
Jarred Pesto - A fresh
herb or a little pesto is another way of making something cheap - like this
soup - look fancy. Even a single rosemary leaf, like in the photo above, will
be a nice touch to impress guests.

Equipment

1 Knife and Cutting Board

1 Large Pot

1 Wooden Spoon

Measuring Cups and Spoons

1 Potato Masher or
Immersion Blender

In
a large pot on high heat, dump in the oil, heat it for a few seconds, and dump
in the onion.

Stir
the onion around for a few seconds until it is slightly soft and translucent,
and then add the rest of your veg and the potato (if using).

Dump
in the broth.

Bring
it to a boil and then lower the heat.

Simmer
everything for about 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender, stirring every
once in a while to make sure the contents of the pot don't burn.

Turn
off the heat and mash everything with a potato masher or puree it with an
immersion blender until it's your desired level of smoothness.

Season
it with salt and pepper to your taste and serve as is or with a dollop of sour
cream or yogurt in the center and a sprinkling of fresh herbs or a little pesto.

Stay
tuned for next time when I'll be showing you more ideas for re-purposing veggies!

About Me

I am a Montreal home cook, cookbook collector, and writer who learned
a long time ago not to listen to what people say about your food, but rather tolook athow much they eat.
Which in my case, is a lot. I do everything. I cook, I bake, and will even try
my hand at sauce making. My culinary repertoire includes making pasta and
gnocchi from scratch, baking a superb challah aka egg-bread, cinnamon buns, and
I make some of the best chicken adobo you will ever taste. I also have a knack
for creating great things out of leftovers, and/or whatever I have on hand at
any given time.I will gladly help out
with any kitchen or meal dilemma you have.